EU told to back May’s plan or face no deal
Raab also warns UK may hold back ‘divorce’ cash
BRITAIN WILL leave the European Union with no Brexit deal unless Brussels engages with Theresa May’s heavily-criticised Chequers Brexit plan, the Prime Minister’s de facto deputy has said.
On a visit to France, Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington told the EU it should not “take for granted” the Government’s proposals, pointing out it was an attempt at compromise which led to the resignations from Cabinet of Boris Johnson and David Davis’s successor.
It came as Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab pleaded with Brussels to be pragmatic instead of employing “dry legalism” in ne- gotiations. And it followed Emmanuel Macron’s speech earlier this week, in which the French President indicated the EU would give the UK little help over anything that would “come at the expense of the European Union’s integrity”.
But speaking to France’s largest employer federation, Mr Lid- ington insisted the Chequers plan did not amount to “cherrypicking”, despite its proposals for a “free trade area in goods” while ending the free movement of citizens, two inseparable pillars of EU membership.
He warned Brussels there was a risk of no deal and that the Chequers proposals were as far as the UK could compromise given pressure from hard Tory Brexiteers.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier did offer some hope yesterday, saying the EU was “prepared to offer a partnership with Britain such as has never been with any other third country”.
THE BREXIT Secretary has denied Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit plan amounts to “begging” the EU for a deal while pleading with Brussels to be pragmatic about the proposals.
Dominic Raab, who will travel to Brussels on Friday for talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, insisted: “We don’t beg and I certainly don’t beg.”
But there was an acknowledgement from him and Cabinet colleague David Lidington that the Chequers plan represented the final “hard fought compromise” on offer before the UK would have to seriously consider ending negotiations and leaving the EU with no deal.
Mr Raab brushed off reports of a rift with Mr Barnier and urged his opposite number to “go the extra mile” to reach a deal, while admitting the timetable for agreement may “creep beyond” the previously envisaged October European Council summit.
And he warned that Britain could withhold some of the £38bn it has agreed to pay the EU as part of a Brexit “divorce” bill if no deal can be reached in negotiations, which would blow a hole in the Brussels budget.
In France, Mr Lidington delivered a coded warning that the EU could end up dealing with hard Brexiteers like Boris Johnson if it does not engage with Chequers.
He stressed many Tories want “a looser relationship” with Brussels, to “start again from scratch” and “face away” from Europe and compete with it on trade.
But Mr Lidington made clear to Brussels that ending free movement and being able to strike trade deals around the globe were “non-negotiable” aspects of Mrs May’s plan despite the desire for closer trade links.
It would therefore be “impossible” to accept Brussels’ proposals for the UK to stay in the customs union or single market, or negotiate a Canada-style free trade deal that would lead to a hard Irish border.
Offering an olive branch, Mr Lidington said the Government was “eager to address” EU concerns that the UK’s customs proposals, in which it would collect tariffs on behalf of the EU, could lead to fraud.
And he insisted Britain’s proposals for a free trade area on goods did not amount to “cherrypicking” but “finding a compromise that reconciles the fundamental interests of both the UK and EU” in ensuring a soft Irish border while keeping trade “frictionless” across borders.
Mr Lidington emphasised that the Chequers plan was a deal that the Cabinet did not agree with entirely, pointing to the sensational resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis, which have destablised Mrs May.
“But it is a compromise that we are ultimately willing to make, not least because it enables us to avoid a border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, while still maintaining the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom,” he said.